Arcane Era-Chapter 41: The Winners

The next series of fights went on as one would expect.

They were either one-sided beatdowns, or a struggle by both parties vying for supremacy.

Liyah’s match was an example of the latter.

Her opponent was someone who had a movement-type Armament of the Standard Grade. The man’s shoes increased his speed and allowed him to glide on the ground with very little friction—almost like it had wheels beneath it.

This made aiming difficult for Liyah, as she could not accurately target her opponent who kept running around the stage. Her advantage, however, was that the Armament only aided her opponent’s travel speed and did nothing to improve his combat speed.

Not only was the man unskilled in close-quarters combat, but he also had a very low tolerance for pain—perhaps due to his lanky build and inexperience in fighting directly. Once Liyah realized this, she abandoned the use of her Armament and completely focused on a close-range battle.

That was how she won the fight—not with an Arcane Instrument, but her own strength and wits.

Armaments weren’t all-powerful.

They had specific uses and limitations that could be exploited by others. Some Armaments were also actively harmful to the wielders, as they contained certain side effects. For Theo, he wasn’t immune to the flames he generated, and Liyah had to deal with the recoil from firing her Arcane Instrument.

She was yet to try the ’Destroy’ lever, but the ’Damage’ was enough to knock her body back, and continuous use put a strain on her shoulders.

As for Kaycee, while the eye patch Armament granted him extremely sharp perception, continuous use of its power to improve his vision would give him a headache. Likewise, the glove sent a portion of the impact he generated from the kinetic force to his own hand, so if he didn’t build his body and simply relied on the strength the glove provided, he would shatter his bones with a single punch. Then, when it came to the stun effect of his flash-orb, he could also be affected if he didn’t take precautions.

Further examples could be found among most Armaments, and the higher their grade, the higher the power they provided... the higher the side effects.

Still, with the unparalleled power that Arcane Instruments provided, they remained the most important items among Mortals. No other conventional weapon or invention could compare to the lost possessions of the Divine Ones.

And so, it was no surprise that only those with Armaments emerged as winners in all the matches.

It was an inevitable outcome.

"Sixteen of you have qualified for the next round, congratulations." After recalling the winners to the stage, Claudius addressed them with a broad smile.

As a gentleman, his polite words were easy to the ears, and they moved the audience who watched the sixteen with curious eyes. It wasn’t very often that one witnessed the use of Armaments, so most people in attendance appreciated the display of power from the contestants.

The Combat Exams for the day were over, yet they itched for more. Many already decided to return for the next day’s round, determined to see the entire Exams to the end.

As for the contestants, they glanced at each other—a myriad of expressions etched on their faces as they saw Claudius’ assistance bring out another bowl filled with wrapped paper.

"As a special treat, we’ll have you all select your next opponents right here, right now."

Starting from Arlet, the bowl was passed to the first eight. Afterward, Claudius approached each contestant and announced the opponents they would be facing. His assistant also walked right behind him, writing down the names on a sheet of paper.

Theo was facing off against someone he recognized from the Mercenary Crew, and so was Liyah. This came as no surprise, since most of the winners were from the Mercenary Crew. Theo and Liyah were also unaware of this, but even the people they didn’t recognize were from other branches that had ties with the Mercenary Crew.

The qualified contestants were chock-full of the enemies of the Ak’ashi Guild.

"And now, it’s time to have a special word from our Guildmaster himself, Lord Shen Ak’ashi... The Supreme Lord of Tyranny."

Everyone cheered, rising for a standing ovation.

Theo took this opportunity to look at the faces of the contestants he knew to be affiliated with the Mercenary Crew, but they all had unexpected expressions. They mimicked the audience, smiling and joining everyone in applause.

’These are definitely not the same people I remember.’ He reasoned. ’Even the man with the burn marks is flawlessly maintaining his composure. He can’t be the same guy who could not control his emotions.’

These were impostors—most likely higher-ranking members of the Mercenary Crew.

Once again, Theo decided to remove his attention from this and raised his head so his eyes took in the bright chamber that stood above everyone else in the hall and shone like the radiant sun.

From within the light came a voice.

"What a pleasant day today has been. This has been an enjoyable experience for me, and I would like to commend all the participants for their incredible display of abilities. This is the most exciting Combat Exam we’ve had in the Guild, and I believe things are only going to get better." ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

As he spoke, the entire hall went silent.

Everyone hung to his every word, with many even holding their breaths as they cast their eyes on his brilliant radiance.

"The next two days will be far more exciting, for obvious reasons, and I can’t wait to see who makes it to the very top at the end of the final round. To those who passed: I wish you the best, and I look forward to what more you can show me." As he said this, his smile widened, and he looked in the direction of a particular person.

Theo and Shen’s eyes met for the first time since the start of the Exams, and both their grins broadened as a result.

It was almost like they could read each other’s minds.

"Till then... farewell."

**********

Theo, Liyah, and Kaycee stepped out of the hall and began to make their way to a restaurant within the Inner Court.

The air felt a little awkward at first, since Kaycee was the only one in the group who didn’t qualify. However, Kaycee quickly broke the silence by congratulating his friends and also making a firm, resolute declaration.

"I may have lost, but even if I don’t get chosen as a Combat Staff, I’ll try again next year! You two encouraged me to chase after my dreams and not accept my inadequacies. I will prepare better and make sure I pass the next Evaluation Exams." Theo and Liyah’s faces lit up as soon as they heard this, and they encouraged him even more.

There was the temptation to tell him that it wasn’t too late to pass the present Combat Exams, but none of them fell for it. While it was possible for losers to still be chosen as Combat Staff, it would be delusion to believe that Kaycee was going to pass after failing to show any skill worthy of note.

He never even got an opportunity to act, hence his chances of being chosen were nonexistent.

Still, the trio was happy.

Kaycee refused to give up, which quelled his friends’ worries of him being broken by his defeat.

A small distance from the three was another group of people—also winners of the first round, consisting of the man who should have burned to death, the man who had a scar on his disfigured face, and over half a dozen others.

They eyed Theo’s group for a moment before going their way and entering a separate S’ub to their collective destination.

Once they dropped at the stop and made their way to their destination—a seemingly respectable establishment on the surface. However, once they got past the illusory frontage and delved deeper into the ’Staff Only’ section, they found themselves in a vast underground basement filled with several boxes filled to the brim with weapons.

Beyond the vast hall, in a separate room, were also several boxes—albeit considerably smaller in number compared to the ones outside—since they contained Armaments.

There were also several hundred men that occupied the basement—one of the many bases of the Mercenary Crew.

They all sat together in the room, waiting for the arrival of someone, and not long after they settled, the door opened and a man in all-black, wearing a frowning-face mask entered the room.

"Sir Jack, we’ve been expecting you."

"Well... here I am." The Jack said, staring at the group. "Did you come here directly from the Combat Exams?"

"Yes! Our target was also there."

"We had all our members ready, waiting for the signal, but we got nothing."

"Why didn’t we execute the plan? Everything was perfectly in place, and you told us the final pieces have been gathered. What are we waiting for?"

These members of the Mercenary Crew were impatient—and rightfully so. The Arcane Instrument that was used to transform them to their target was a powerful one belonging to the Imperial Grade.

It allowed them to impersonate any mortal as long as they had sufficient information about the target, but they could only keep up the veil for three days at most. And, for every day, the disguise’s effect lessened. Furthermore, after the third day, if they did not transform to their original forms, they would become deformed blobs with monstrous forms that consisted of both parts of their original bodies and their new ones.

Trying very hard to avoid that fate, and also desiring not to risk the success of the plan, due to their disguise gradually eroding with time, they raised fair concerns regarding the launch of their plans.

"We can’t undo the disguise of our own free will, and we can’t transform to the same person we transformed into again, which means we have to launch our plan as soon as possible—before the window of opportunity closes." The man with the deformed face said, his logic resonating with everyone else in the room.

Upon hearing this, the Jack nodded calmly.

"I understand your concerns, but have no fear... everything is proceeding perfectly according to plan." He said. "Shen has been confirmed to be exposed, out in the open, and the ’Queen’ is also ready to make her move."

"So why aren’t we—?"

The Jack raised his hand, causing absolute silence in the audience.

"You were all Intermediaries, so you must understand already... we move according to the will of the King. You all have to be patient, and in due time... we will execute everything." Everyone in the audience nodded, and Jack slowly removed his mask to reveal a large claw mark that scarred his entire face.

He looked considerably young, barely in his mid twenties, which surprised everyone who saw his face for the very first time.

His raven-black hair danced lightly as his right green eye contrasted heavily with the milky white one in his left, which was completely blind—most likely caused by whatever had slashed him in the past, since the claw mark ran through the blind eye as it trailed down to the edge of his young face.

"Shen has taken a lot from me, just as he has for all of you. More than anything, I want him to pay for what he has done... and he will."

Leaving them a smile, the Jack once again hid his face within the mask

"We just have to wait for the right time."